Sociology

General Information
Sociology is the study of society! Sociology enables students to think critically about how we affect society and how society affects us. Sociology opens the doors to many different careers. The course will help students to gain a critical understanding of the society in which we live. Sociology is taught using a variety of methods including group work, lecturing and personal research. The type of person who will enjoy Sociology will be someone who enjoys being challenged by new ideas and who likes discussion work, even though discussion only forms part of the subject. There is a lot of reading, writing and individual research to do and for anyone who is interested in the world about us, there is much that is exciting to be discovered.

Course Outline

Year 1
Assessment: The course is 100% examination based.

For the award of an AS Level in Psychology, students must complete the following 2 exam papers successfully:

Paper 1: Education: What is the role of education? Which groups in society achieve best and why (50% of AS level)

Paper 2:
Culture and Identity and research methods– Different conceptions of culture, including subculture, mass culture, high and low culture, popular culture, global culture. What is Socialisation and the process of Socialisation (50% of AS level)

Assessment: Two 1 ½ hour written examinations. Each of the above papers is worth 50% of the AS
Level qualification (they will no longer count towards the overall A Level qualification).

Year 2

In Year 13 the students do a further year of study and preparation for the full A level in the subject.

Paper 1:
Education with theory and methods– What is the role of education and the functions of the education system and examine research methods. (33% weighting)

Paper 3: Social Stratification– How is wealth, status and power shared? Does class affect our life chances?

Careers and Higher Education Opportunities
The Sociology course offers variety, is up-to-date and relevant, giving you a good sense of what Sociology is about and providing a sound basis for progression to further and higher education or to employment. The qualification will enable you to move on to further study and is particularly useful if you want to carry on studying AS/A Level Sociology and related subjects in the Humanities e.g. Law, Media Studies etc. Sociology is a good general subject for students because many professional careers, including medicine, law, teaching and business require students to have some knowledge of Sociology and social theory.

Extra-curricular enrichment opportunities
Regular support sessions will be available after school during some school holidays to help students with homework, projects and exam preparation. Students are often invited to attend University Masterclasses to prepare them for University level study and to support A Level attainment.

Understanding the New A Levels
Based on the recent government changes, this course will teach AS level content alongside the full A Level requirement during Year 1. At the end of the year, all students will sit the AS level exam. All students securing appropriate grades at AS Level, who have the desire and aptitude to continue to study for the full A Level, will then complete the second year of the course.

Under the new curriculum changes, the AS Level qualification no longer counts towards the full A Level qualification and will be worth 40% of a full A Level in all subjects.

The full A Level qualification is an entirely separate qualification and the grade for this will be based solely on students’ performance in the three examinations at the end of the second year of the course. Each A Level Sociology exam paper will last 2 hours. Two of the papers contain content from the AS Level qualification however the topics will be examined at a higher level of comprehension and analysis than in the AS Level qualification.

Moseley School and Sixth Form is an inspirational place to learn, where teachers with a passion for teaching and learning, nurture the curiosity, creativity and imagination of students.